Method for the production of ammunition shells



BIE Er AL F AM Dec. 20, 1938. J B TALBOT cRos Patented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES METHOD roa THE PRODUCTION OF TION SHELLS John Burrell Talbot-Crosbie and Arthur Penrhyn Stanley Macquisten, Glasgow, Scotland Application March 8, 1938, Serial No. 194,592 In Great Britain February 22, 1937 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved method for the production of ammunition shells.

In the usual practice of forging billets into ammunition shells, the billet has been disposed with 5 the grain of the metal located parallel with the line of travel of the punch, i. e., vertically. With such disposition flaws or grain irregularities which may be in the metal adjacent to the vertical axis of the billet are not eliminated by punching and drawing, i. e., fiaws or grain irregularities may persist in the metallic base of the shell.

In the production of ammunition shells according to the present invention the billet is disposed within a billet-receiving bore with the grain of the metal disposed transversely of the line of the travel of the punch, or in any event non-collinearly with the travel of the punch, that is, with the axis of the shell.

The billet may be of any form.

In the extrusion of ammunition shells formed from a billet disposed with the grain of the metal non-collinear with the travel of the punch, the metal is depressed and the imperforate base is formed from a part of the billet in which flaws or grain irregularities do not normally occur, or if occurring would be bent but not disposed in vertical position, thereby providing against the presence of flaws or grain irregularities in so the base, with resultant porosity of the base in its axial direction.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawing in which Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are vertical sections showing progressive 5 initial stages of the extrusion of a metal billet into a shell, and Fig. 4 is a vertical section of an extruded shell.

as shown in the drawing, i denotes a die-ring after yielding to permit extrusion of the shell through the die-ring I.

The direction of the grain of the metal of the billet 6, as indicated by the dotted line 9, is initially disposed transverse to the direction of 5 travel of the punch 5 so that, in the initial or base-forging operation, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, flaws or gain irregularities are less likely to develop in the base, or any existing flaws or irregularities are less likely to be aggravated, than 10 if the grain were otherwise disposed. The dotted line 9 in Fig. 4 shows the general run of the grain in the extruded product.

It will be seen that the invention provides for the production of ammunition shells in a con- 15 tinuous operation, comprising first forging a billet of which the grain is disposed non-collinearly with the longitudinal axis of the shell whereby to consolidate the imperi'orate base of the shell; Within a die-ring, and then extruding the shell 20 through the die-ring.

We claim:-

The method of producing an ammunition shell in a continuous operation which comprises placing a billet from which the shell is to be made 25 and which is thicker than the base of the shell to be formed over a die chamber having a bottom adapted to be temporarily closed with the grain of the metal of the billet disposed noncollinearly with the axial direction of the die chamber, forging said billet into said die chamber while said bottom is temporarily closed to form in the lower part of said die chamber an intermediate product having a. consolidated base portion with the grain of the metal of said portion non-collinear with the axial direction of said die chamber, and extru ng said intermediate product from said die chamber to form the final product of the operation with the grain of the metal of the base portion thereof extending non-collinearly with the axis of said final product, whereby said base portion is substantially non-porous in its axial direction, the thickness of the central portion of the billet during said forging and extruding being reduced to the thickness of the base of said final product.

J. B. TALBQT-CROSBIl-lv A. P. S. MACQUISTEN. 

